"Jiannu divided his army into eight parts and plundered everywhere along the Taihang Mountains and canals from west Beijing to Shanxi. The troops were inevitably scattered and difficult to respond to."
Sun Chuanting did not look at Cao Wenzhao's gaze. All his attention was focused on the wilderness in the eastern suburbs of Zhending not far away.
The beam horse reported back. There was no other army within a radius of thirty miles, and they were scouting further away.
There was definitely only one Qing army outside Zhending City, and it was the Qing army that was in front of him now.
At first, Sun Chuanting just wanted to expel the Qing army, lift their siege on Zhending, and drive them out of the Zhending area.
Sun Chuanting knew very well the combat power of the Qing army. In May of the eighth year of Chongzhen, he led his servants to fight with a small group of Qing troops in the wild.
Although Jiannu Zhenyi was able to ride and shoot, his cavalry combat skills were slightly inferior to those of the frontier cavalry, and even more difficult to match when compared to the Mongolian cavalry.
The riding combat can only be said to be average, not outstanding, and it can only be said that it will not become a shortcoming.
Jian Nu is stronger than infantry warriors. He wears strong armor and a strong bow. He has excellent archery skills and is very brave in close combat.
Among them, the white-armored soldiers are extremely brave. Not only are they excellent in foot combat, but they are also extremely skilled in cavalry combat. The ordinary soldiers are no match for them.
In that confrontation with the Qing army, the Qing army was not large in number, only about twenty people, including two in white armor.
At that time, they were retreating towards the north with the mules and horses that they had looted from the surrounding areas.
Sun Chuanting led his troops to ambush on the path the Qing army must pass through. Waiting for them to reach halfway, they would intercept and kill them.
At that time, he brought a total of more than 200 servants and militiamen, which was almost ten times the number of the Qing army.
However, the outcome of the war was not one-sided. The first reaction of the Qing army when encountering an attack was not to panic and escape, but to immediately find where the ambush was.
Then, no one issued any military orders at all, and they began to launch a countercharge towards them.
The minors in the slave army, that is, the officers, generally carried the command flag on their backs. The situation was similar to that in the Ming army, except that there were certain differences in the size and shape of the flag.
As soon as they encountered the attack, they quickly completed their assembly and immediately took countermeasures.
There are melee teams that get close to counter the charge, and there are archers who ride their horses to find bunkers and favorable high ground, then dismount and draw their bows to provide long-range support.
More than 200 people beat 20 people. It was deliberate calculation but not intentional, and it was still an ambush.
But in that battle, they only killed five Qing troops in total. The rest of the Qing troops chose to retreat after the fierce battle, and they took the bodies with them when they left.
There were more than 20 people killed by them, and even more people were injured, nearly 50 people.
The two white-armored soldiers killed almost half of the casualties.
A lot of the plundered people, property, and livestock were taken back, which can barely be regarded as military exploits.
The Qing army was brave, with strong armor and sharp blades, and its original shortcomings in cavalry combat were made up for by the submission of the Mongolian tribes in Monan.
"Jiannu fought bravely on foot, but was less effective on cavalry. In order to retreat, they left the Mongolian cavalry in the rear, but now the Mongolian cavalry suffered heavy casualties and their morale was low..."
"This is our chance!"
A bright light flashed in Sun Chuanting's eyes. He clenched the riding crop in his hand and looked at Cao Wenzhao.
His voice was very low. He was speaking to Cao Wenzhao, but he seemed to be speaking to himself alone.
Lin Danhan died of illness in Qinghai, which became the last straw for Monan Mongolia.
Huang Taiji seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and used the momentum to subdue Monan Mongolia to establish a country and proclaim himself emperor and unify the northern land.
It has been nearly three years since Huang Taiji secretly claimed to be emperor.
In the past three years, Jiannu has continued to grow and develop, and is not only a little bit stronger than it was in eight years.
Therefore, Sun Chuanting had always been extremely cautious before picking up the train.
Even the words used when issuing military orders to Cao Bianjiao and He Renlong were carefully considered for a long time, so that they could preserve their strength as much as possible.
However, the situation in front of us is changing too quickly.
Most of the Mongolian cavalry guarding the two wings of the Qing army were defeated by Cao Bianjiao and He Renlong.
After a short period of thinking and weighing each other's strengths, Sun Chuanting issued a bold military order.
"Order, Cao Bianjiao and He Renlong lead the elite cavalry of our headquarters to cut off Jiannu's retreat!"
"Order, supervise the Biao camp to cross the river, watch the formation in the distance, and be on guard against the slaves..."
The sound of horse hooves was heard on the battlefield. Under Sun Chuanting's order, large groups of cavalry bypassed the Qing army's formation and galloped away from both wings.
Sun Chuanting came to the front line in person and, together with Cao Wenzhao, led the troops in the front line.
The cavalry led by the headquarters and the cavalry of the fourth battalion of Supervisor Biao set up a large formation and faced the Qing army. The two armies were only five miles apart.
Sun Chuanting stared ahead, his expression was stern, and his eyes were calm, as if everything was well thought out, and nothing could make his mood fluctuate.
But this is only what outsiders see. Sun Chuanting holds the riding crop in his hand tightly.
He could clearly hear his heartbeat.
The Qing army has nearly five thousand people, many armored soldiers and well-equipped weapons.
Three Jia La warriors are already a considerable force, and they are also the direct line of the Zhenglan Banner, one of the Eight Banners.
Military battles are dangerous and dangerous. It is not just a simple comparison of strength and numbers. If you are not careful, you may be defeated and killed. If you make a wrong move, you may lose the whole game.
The reason why Sun Chuanting disapproved of Lu Xiangsheng's decisive battle with the Qing army was precisely because he felt that Lu Xiangsheng's plan was too dangerous.
The Qing army had planned for a long time to enter the pass, and it moved like thunder. It moved south like a broken bamboo. It was obvious that it was well prepared.
But they were passively defensive, and there were so many things that happened while they were looking at one thing and losing another along the way.
All the generals in the towns retreated one after another, timid before fighting.
In the field battles with the Qing army for many years, they always lost more than they won.
Sun Chuanting was not optimistic about the outcome of the decisive battle.
Moreover, this time the slaves joined the invaders and went south together with a large number of Mongolian light cavalry.
Even if the decisive battle can be won, it will not shake the foundation of the Jiannu Empire.
But now, an opportunity for a stunt was placed in front of Sun Chuanting.
"The Jiannu army has a tight formation and cannot be attacked by cavalry. If you want to break the Jiannu formation, you still need to use infantry to break it."
Cao Wenzhao raised the telescope in his hand, frowned, and observed the Qing army's formation not far away.
He and the Qing army are old rivals, so they naturally know the ins and outs.
The Qing army's formation was about one mile long and wide. It was originally a horizontal formation, but now it has become a square formation.
The shield car is in front, with artillery in the middle, and is arrayed on all sides. The archers are behind the shield car artillery, and the Mongolian cavalry has regrouped on both wings.
The scene before us was exactly the same as the battle to regain the four cities of Zunhua. The Qing army also formed the same formation when facing the siege.
"The shields and chariots of the Jiannu are strong, and the bows and crossbows are difficult to penetrate, and the guns and cannons are difficult to penetrate. The Jiannu armored soldiers mostly hold hard crossbows and strong bows. Most of our troops have Kaiyuan bows and few heavy bows. We have no advantage in shooting... "
Cao Wenzhao turned his head slightly and glanced at Sun Chuanting, who was also observing the Qing army's formation ahead with a telescope.
The telescope used by Sun Chuanting is a telescopic three-section telescope. When stretched, it is fully one meter in length. It is set up on a high slope with a bracket.
In an emergency, a person's shoulder can also be used as a brace.
The telescope used by Sun Chuanting is quite gorgeously decorated on the outside, with many places carved with animal patterns.
Naturally, Sun Chuanting did not buy this from outside, but Chen Wang gave it to Sun Chuanting.
Sun Chuanting was an upright person. At first, when Chen Wang sent the brocade box containing the telescope, he was scolded. It was not until Chen Wang opened the brocade box and presented the telescope that Sun Chuanting's expression turned gloomy.
Chen Wang gave a total of two pairs. The first pair was bought from Macau, and the other was a telescope made by Bo Jue.
The telescope made by Bo Jue uses two convex mirrors, which produce an inverted image. It is a Kepler-style telescope.
But this problem has already been solved by Chen Wang. The knowledge of junior high school physics is not difficult, it is just like an adjustment.
It turns out that Chen Wang couldn't remember all the knowledge of junior high school physics. After all, it had been out of use for a long time, but since he came to this era.
Everything I had seen and understood was still fresh in my memory, as if I had a photographic memory.
"With the current strength of our army, it may be difficult to defeat Jiannu..."
Cao Wenzhao thought for a long time and finally chose to advise Sun Chuanting.
There were nearly 5,000 Qing troops besieging Zhending. Although Cao Bianjiao and He Renlong had just won and killed many Mongolian cavalry, the overall impact on the Qing army was not great.
The best way is to open the gap, let the Qing army leave the encirclement, and then take the opportunity to pursue them in tandem, killing and injuring the Qing army as much as possible.
This way, the risk is far less than a forceful attack, the rewards are good, and you can give an explanation to the superiors.
"No."
Sun Chuanting did not turn his head, his eyes were still on the Qing army's formation under the thousand-mile lens.
"We have a chance, and it's not a small chance."
Cao Wenzhao was a little surprised. He didn't know why Sun Chuanting was so confident and why he was so sure.
"Didn't you tell me about the Sea Oath Gun before?"
"Earth-sworn guns?"
Cao Wenzhao was slightly startled and his eyes moved slightly. After a brief period of confusion, he quickly came to his senses.
The name of the new type of fire gun equipped by the fire gun soldiers in Chen Wang's army is called the Sea Oath Gun.
It is said to be a bird gun, but it is heavier and longer than ordinary bird guns. It also looks very strange. It is carried on the body with a strap.
When he asked about it when he was in Tongguan, Chen Wang explained to him in detail about the Eternal Gun.
Later, he asked for a few muskets, showed them to Sun Chuanting, and briefly talked about them, but he did not expect that Sun Chuanting would mention them at this time.
"I had people try those muskets, and they were able to break through three layers of heavy armor within forty steps, and two layers of armor within sixty steps."
"Flints used for making fire. Some time ago, I saw that when Chen Wang was practicing in formation, the fire gun soldiers were not fighting apart from each other, but were fighting side by side like ordinary soldiers."
"What takes the effort of firing a bird's gun once, but it can be fired twice, or even three times..."
Sun Chuanting withdrew his gaze and turned to look at Cao Wenzhao.
"The times are tough and opportunities are rare. No matter what, give it a try!"
Not only did he let people try the guns sent by Cao Wenzhao, but he also observed Chen Wang's training of troops while he was stationed in the army.
Chen Wang arranged his gunmen in four rows, standing staggered. The four rows of volleys fired with an extremely shocking sound. A large sheet of white mist almost obscured most of the training ground.
During the round of shooting, four rows of gunmen fired in turn, round after round, almost continuously.
If this can be done in actual combat, the enemy may not be able to engage in the battle, and a large number of them will fall just on the way to charge.
Sun Chuanting slowly raised his riding whip and pointed at the Qing army's formation in the distance. He had already made up his mind.
(End of chapter)
